Workshop Wonderings

Workshops for this week

Video SIG

Wednesday, January 3, 9:30 to 11:30
Preview on using Premier Elements
Video Editing Process
Options for Caputring and Adding Media
Output and Export of Edited Video

Intermediate Digital Photography Workshop

Thursday, January 4, 9:30  to 11:00
"Magic of Levels in Photoshop" presented by Al Crawford
Levels is one of the most basic of the tools of Photoshop Elements.  Al will start at the beginning with this tool and progress through until he reaches some of the more advanced techniques using levels.  This workshop is aimed at those who are beginning in digital photography but will also be suited for those further along.  We can always learn.

There will be time allocated during the workshop for questions.  The questions can be about Levels but they do not have to be.  If you are having any problem with your digital photography bring your questions and someone will probably have an answer.

Advanced Digital Photography Workshop

Thursday, January 4, 1:30 to 3:00
"Blending Modes" presented by Al Crawford
Layers have blending modes and brushes have blending modes.  You can have self blending of layers (the blending of a layer with a copy of itself) but you can also blend two different images for interesting effects.  And you can use blending modes in techniques for sharpening, dodging and burning, converting to black and white, etc.  Al will present some of the uses of blending modes as well as pointing the way to experimenting in further techniques.

The presentation will be made using Photoshop CS2, but blending modes work in Elements as well.  So don't let the word "Advanced" scare you off.

Black & White Study Group

Friday, January 5, 9:30 to 11:00
An Organizational Meeting
"A Look and Ansel Adams in the West"
Black & White Photography goes back to the roots of the art.  Bob Johnson started this study group a couple of years ago and continued it until his health no longer permited him to continue.  This will be a restart of the study group.

If you have an interest in improving your photography plan to attend this study group.  There will be some of the "old timers" who have attended the study group in the past giving their input.  And there should be many "first timers" who are beginning photographers attending as well.  There will be something for everybody.

Non-destructive Dodge & Burn

Principle:  Do not changing any pixels in your image until you absolutely have to
Technique:  When you dodge and burn it normally is a very destructive way of correcting your image.  However, in this technique the actual dodging and burning is done on a separate neutral gray layer and then using the magic of blending modes, transerfering the effect to the layer without actually changing pixels on the original layer.

  1. Create a new blank layer.  Name it Dodge/Burn
  2. Click on the background color indicator in the tool bar to bring up the color picker dialog box.
  3. In the dialog box enter 128 in to the R box, the G box and the B box.  This is neutral grey.
  4. With the paint bucket tool selected and the Dodge/Burn layer active click anywhere on the image to paint the entire Dodge/Burn layer neutral grey.
  5. Change the blending mode of the Dodge/Burn layer to overlay.
  6. What you should now see is your original image unchanged.  The overlay blending mode will cause the image to lighten if blended layer has a luminescence value of less than 128 and darken the image if the luminescence value is greater than 128.
  7. With the Dodge/Burn layer active dodge (to lighten) and burn (to darken) the image as you would normally do.  Except that this will lighten and darken the grey Dodge/Burn layer instead of the original image layer(s).  The overlay mode will give the effect of lightening the image itself.
  8. If you make a mistake, paint over the bad area with neutral grey, which is still the current background color.
  9. You can deliberately dodge or burn too much and soften the effect by changing the opacity of the Dodge/Burn layer.